{"product_id":"days-of-youth-g-w-cobb-9781764487887","title":"Days of Youth: The Lost Diaries of Geoffry Wheatly Cobb","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"A vivid and fascinating account of one man's sexual and romantic obsessions - as well as an unusual slice of naval history.\" - \u003cstrong\u003ePeter Parker in \u003cem\u003eThe Times.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe unique diaries of a wealthy gay shipowner that spans the Edwardian era to the 1930s.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA renowned philanthropist, and owner of Caldicot Castle in Wales, Geoffry Wheatly Cobb (1858-1931) saved and restored three of England's historic naval warships, turning them into training vessels. Over several decades he sponsored traineeships for hundreds of working class youths, in order to give them a better start in life, and provide what he believed was the time of their lives.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBesides historic ships, young men and youths were Geoffry's other passion; one he detailed with exceptional candor in his private diaries. Due to extraordinary circumstances a few of the volumes miraculously escaped destruction.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn exceedingly rare survival, they represent a previously hidden history, and lasting record of those vanished days - days filled, as Cobb wrote, with glorious faces and figures, and joyous life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOVER 50 PAGES OF PHOTOGRAPHS\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis second edition includes an introduction, epilogue, appendix, and footnotes, plus over 50 pages of photographs from Cobb's private albums, the majority never-before published. (Photographs in the paperback edition are in monochrome; those in the hardback edition are in sepia.)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePersonalities who feature in the diaries include Cobb's friend, the celebrated painter Henry Scott Tuke, and even the future Duke of Windsor. In their pages, Cobb writes his daily life aboard ship and at Caldicot, as wells as detailing an endless string of lovers. He also pens eloquent defences of homosexual desire.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs well as eye-opening and unintentionally comic passages, the diaries include statements that are laugh-out-loud or gasp-worthy, as well as beguiling glimpses of the spacious days of a privileged yesteryear.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs the book's Introduction states: \"It is an intimate view of an extraordinary life: that of a man whose fortune enabled him to be master and commander of an alternative realm; one in which his forbidden sexuality could be freely and fully indulged. However, it is also a window into a remarkable maritime enterprise from a vanished past.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe editor, Peter Jordaan, is the author of the highly-praised historical biographical trilogy \u003cem\u003eA Secret Between Gentlemen\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e G. W. Cobb\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1764487885\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781764487887\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Alchemie Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/31\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 566\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.65lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 1.26d","brand":"G. W. Cobb","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48743259537663,"sku":"9781764487887","price":25.9,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/days-of-youth-g-w-cobb-9781764487887","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}